Now here’s a neat idea that we hope spreads across the country. 

This week saw the opening of The Contractor Store, a coworking space for independent contractors in Greece, New York.

You’ll remember the rise of coworking spaces soon after COVID. They allowed employees to get away from the distractions of home and be around other humans on the job.

In the case of The Contractor Store, the new offering provides a centralized hub exclusively for trades professionals, including carpenters, roofers, and painters.

“Here, they can take the bookkeeping hat off, the accounting hat off, the sales hat off and just worry about the jobsite,” proprietor Michael Murano told the Rochester Business Journal. “If you give the contractors some resources and a little help, they become top-notch contractors.”

Murano is no stranger to the trades. Two of his companies – Fine Touch Painting and JSM Roofing – are part of The Contractor Store fold.

He has big dreams for the new concept. Murano envisions members of The Contractor Store being able to exert buying power together to leverage discounts from suppliers. He also sees it as a two-sided market, where homeowners shopping for services can talk to painters, roofers, and tilers all in one place. Murano plans to open at least two more New York state locations for The Contractor Store, in Buffalo and Syracuse.

We always love to see contractors working together for their mutual benefit, and we hope to see more coworking spaces for trades people across the country.